NSPCC's Flaw in the Law was an example shown by Georgina that influenced our solution to the brief. The video's effectiveness in its shareability is down to the way the message is communicated to the viewer. Information is presented in just short sentences which in turn constantly changes the video's visual. This keeps the viewers attention and makes the video appropriate to the attention span of on screen users today. Another effective technique is the tone of voice. The animation style softens the seriousness of the issue, which is effective because the graphic imagery used by other campaigns have been overdone. Making it more likely for people to dismiss the constant rhetoric.
Kieran provided context behind the reason why Russians buy into the fur trade. Trading fur is rooted deep in their culture, from as early as the 17th Century. The current economic crisis Russia is experiencing from sanctions has also caused the fur trade to continue as way to generate income. Furthermore because Russia is such a cold country, wearing fur was brought on from necessity. "Many middle class people wear fur because it is regarded as the best way to stay warm in the harsh winter." As a whole there has never been a strong anti-fur movement in Russia, and there wasn't one in the Soviet Union.
He also highlighted how China has a very relaxed view on the fur trade. Offering little regulations of the area. An interesting point however was how that China will always continue the trade to supply the demand for fur in Europe. So if the campaign can reduce the demand, the suffering of the animals can be reduced.
From the research we gathered, we produced a range of ideas we could pursue.
1. Lynx (old name of Fur for Animals), had a tshirt made promoting the anti fur campaign.
We thought the campaign could produce t-shirts for sale to help bring the anti fur movement back into public consciousness. A t-shirt would relatively be appropriate because of how much fur is being used in fashion nowadays. The t-shirt can then be photographed and subsequently shared on social media, spreading the awareness.
2. To produce clothing tags that would help tell consumers of the authenticity of the fake fur they're buying. This idea stemmed from the quote by the RSPCA's head of external affairs in which, David Bowles, said: "We believe that real fur is mistakenly being widely sold in the UK. An RSPCA survey showed that 93 per cent of people would not wear real fur, but a lot of shoppers are accidentally buying it assuming it's fake because it is cheap and not clearly labelled." This highlights how the general public aren't fully educated on the fur industry and how shady it can all be. By creating these tags and possibly extending it brands labelling their shops at the entrance, the consumer becomes better informed into what they're buying. Consumers would have a better conscious knowing that they are not indirectly supplying the fur trade. This "tag" can also be made into a digital label as well. Having online merchants display like an icon stating that the clothes they are buying are 100% fake fur. Ultimately however this idea doesn't necessarily achieve the briefs aims of creating a shareable online campaign.
3. Producing a sticker pack was a suggestion to help create a more interactive campaign. This came about from the trending trash dove stickers that are appearing on Facebook and Georgina's research on the WWF endangered emoji campaign.
Because people communicate so much electronically, having a sticker would potentially make the campaign last longer. Furthermore this sticker pack could be made on to the Chinese messaging app WeChat which is the equivalent to WhatsApp. China is a hard country to 'infiltrate' because of its heavy censorship on western media sites. To get around this, stickers on their messaging app could potentially be a way to get the campaign trending in the country.
4. Thinking even further than just a social media campaign we thought the anti fur movement could take advantage of the digital platform. That means potentially having a VR tour of a fur farm or even making a game. However our inexperience in the field wouldn't do justice to these ideas so to say. Nevertheless it could be a touchpoint to state on the design boards to demonstrate how far the campaign could go.
In order to properly identify which idea to pursue we decided that the overarching problem of the campaign is that the general public are not well informed on the fur trade. This was created from the decreasing exposure after the 90's "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign. The lack of exposure meant that the fur trade was able to go unnoticed and continue till this day. Furthermore since that era, a new generation has emerged and therefore has become the ideal target audience. It is easier to educate the youth because they are open to new ideas and mentalities.
After some discussion, we concluded that a video campaign would be the most appropriate solution. Short succinct videos such as the NSPCC's better hold the viewers attention and communicate the message clearly. A simple digital poster approach may become easy to overlook or scroll past. Videos are also very versatile with it being able to be posted on virtually every social media site. Furthermore, online habits of users on Facebook have changed. Nowadays the site has become a platform for sharing other peoples content rather than posting status updates as originally intended. By tapping into this habit and the 1.86 billion monthly active users (as of of the fourth quarter of 2016) the site has, the campaign is more likely to be shared.
As for the tone of voice, we concluded that the campaign should avoid the same ones used by the WWF, NHS or THINK! A less serious tone of voice will make the campaign more approachable to support and make it more accessible to a wider audience.
Therefore the aim of the video is to educate the viewer on the realities of the fur trade through a approachable tone of voice. Some initial ideas were to illustrate the life journey of two minks, one trapped in the cage and one living freely in the woods. By showing both sides, the viewer is educated on the positives of allowing these creatures live a normal life rather than focusing on just the negatives. It also lessens the common tactic of hitting on peoples guilty conscious which can be a factor to turn away from the campaign. Another idea was to create an infographic type video to illustrate the amount of fur used on common items people buy them for.
Until the next meeting, Georgina and I are tasked with creating the narrative of the video whilst Kieran creates the visual style.
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